The higher seeds not only won Tuesday, but all four victorious teams swept in the NCAA’s National Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Championship at Long Beach State’s Walter Pyramid.
Thursday’s semifinals are set:
No. 1 UCLA (24-5) vs. No. 4 UC Irvine (20-10), 3:30 p.m. Pacific
No. 2 Long Beach State (26-2) vs. No. 3 Grand Canyon (26-4), 6:30 p.m. Pacific
Both matches can only be seen on NCAA.com. Saturday’s 2 p.m. Pacific final will be shown on ESPN2.
UCLA overpowers Fort Valley State
The defending national champions of the MPSF hit .521 and won 25-14, 25-15, 25-15 to put a quick end to the NCAA trip for eighth-seeded Fort Valley State (17-9), which earned the first SIAC automatic bid.
Ethan Champlin led a balanced Bruins attack with eight kills, hitting .400, to go with an assist, an ace and four digs. Ten UCLA players had kills, including seven by Merrick McHenry, who had no errors in nine attacks to go with three blocks and an ace, and seven kills by Ido David, who had no errors in 11 swings, two aces, two blocks and three digs. Cooper Robinson had six kills with one errors in 12 attacks and Zach Rama had six kills and one error in nine swings. Setter Andrew Rowan had two kills in four errorless tries, 25 assists, an ace, a block and six digs. His team, which four aces and nine serving errors, had 12 kills with one error in 18 attacks in the third set.
Fort Valley State, which opened its season with a loss at UCLA, hit .000 with 17 kills and 17 errors in 69 attacks. Raheem Thomas led with six kills, a solo block — and his team’s only block — and eight digs.
UCI dispatches Penn State
The Anteaters of the Big West turned a highly anticipated match into a 26-24, 25-16, 25-19 outcome. EIVA champion Penn State, the No. 5 seed, ended its season 23-7.
UCI, which hit .435 in third set, finished at .284 and had three aces and nine errors. Hilir Henno had 15 kills but hit .189, to go with an assist, an ace, three digs and five blocks, one solo. William D’Arcy had eight kills and Akhil Tangutur seven, five in the first set when he had one error in six attacks. Maxim Grigoriev had five kills in nine errorless attacks, an assist, two digs and four blocks, one solo. Setter Brett Sheward had a kill in his only attempt, 32 assists, an ace, four blocks and eight digs.
John Kerr had 14 of…
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